Boston Scientific opens global HQ at sprawling site in Marlborough

Wednesday

Jul 2, 2014 at 12:01 AM

By Kendall HatchDaily News Staff

MARLBOROUGH – A week after making the move into its new digs, officials at Boston Scientific say the sleek new facility is a physical representation of the company’s promising future."In the last week we have been here, the energy has been higher than I have seen it in seven years," Paul Donhauser, the company’s director of global facilities, said during a tour of the new building Tuesday. "This clearly represents where we are going."The company, one of the world’s largest medical device development and manufacturing companies, is wrapping up the move of its global headquarters from Natick to Marlborough. Staff moved to the new headquarters building on June 23.In moving the headquarters to Marlborough, Boston Scientific expanded the presence it already held in the city. The new corporate headquarters joins two other previously existing buildings on the 120-acre site, which have been home to the company’s endoscopy and urology and women’s health businesses since 2004.The new global headquarters building has an open concept design and is meant to encourage collaboration, Donhauser said. Workspaces are open and seating areas, common areas and "huddle rooms," a smaller version of a conference room, allow employees to have impromptu meetings and work together. Each floor of the new building has a "town square" in the middle, which has a kitchen area and some couches, again as a way to encourage organic collaboration and innovation, Donhauser said."Innovation is now happening over a cup of coffee instead of in the conference rooms," Donhauser said.The headquarters also has a focus on ease of communication, such as a telepresence room outfitted for virtual meetings with clients or other Boston Scientific offices around the globe, Donhauser said.Site improvements were not contained to the new headquarters, however, Donhauser said.The company made several changes to the campus at large, many of them increased amenities for employees. Around the campus are a new softball field, volleyball and basketball courts and horseshoe pits. The cricket pitch? That’s still under construction, but it should be wrapping up soon.The campus also has dry cleaning and a hair salon and a daycare center should be opening up in about a month and a half, said Donhauser.Donhauser said that by moving farther away from the city, the company has to provide a workplace that’s even more attractive to the caliber of employees they want to attract."If you do come to suburbia to create a campus … you need to offer a full-service campus," he said. "It’s all about getting that key talent and not only acquiring them but retaining them."The site also features a fitness center, where company CEO Michael Mahoney happened to be working out Tuesday afternoon. Mahoney said the new space fits the goals of the company."We wanted to build a space that was more modern and collaborative," he said. "We are a global company - half our sales are outside the US - so there are a lot of technology tools and video conferencing that enable global collaboration."Mahoney also said the company realized an obvious cost savings by consolidating the Natick headquarters and Marlborough facilities in one location."Natick was too big, too sprawling, so this is more cost-effective," he said. "It’s more efficient space for us."The entire campus renovation cost about $45 million, Donhauser said, with about $34 million of that going to the new global headquarters building.Kendall Hatch can be reached at 508-490-7453 or khatch@wickedlocal.com. Follow him on Twitter @Kendall_HatchMW.